I think by now we have all attended virtual value analysis (VVA) meetings due to the pandemic. Yet, have we made the most of our time, talent, and resources in conducting these meetings? With this said, here are five incredibly useful virtual value analysis meeting tips to consider:
1. Prepare and Share the Agenda for the VVA Meeting Ahead of Time: Although this should be a given for any meeting, sometimes there is no agenda, or an inadequate agenda prepared for virtual value analysis meetings. If you want to keep everyone on the same page and keep the discussion on-time, on-topic, and on-point, make sure you take the time to carefully prepare your agenda.
2. Treat Each Value Analysis Study as a Project: Instead of treating each new product request, new or renewal GPO contract, or local contract evaluation as a study, we recommend that you treat them as projects. This is because a study doesn’t require action, whereas a project is a carefully planned value analysis functional analysis that requires an action or result.
3. Assign a Project Manager to Each Project: By assigning a project manager to each of your VA projects, you will hold a person accountable for the successful completion of your VA project. This is how you can reduce your project timelines and improve the quality of the results.
4. Don’t Go Longer Than Necessary with VVA Meetings: We recommend that virtual value analysis meetings go no longer than one hour, since most people lose their focus beyond that time. If the meeting must go longer, you will need to take coffee breaks, encourage stretching, and monitor your members’ attention span.
5. Ask If There Is Anything You Could Have Done Better: Before you close out your VVA meetings, it is good practice to ask participants if there is anything you could have done better. This feedback is invaluable in keeping your VVA meetings effective, productive, and relevant in changing times.
I can’t think of a hospital, system, or IDN that doesn’t have value analysis team meetings. Yet, I haven’t seen enough healthcare organizations embrace virtual value analysis team meetings to save time, money, and actually improve their VA team’s productivity. Therefore, we recommend that every other VA meeting be virtual, because it makes sense to us in this busy world of healthcare we work in.
P.S. If you would like to learn more about virtual value analysis meetings, just e-mail us at [email protected] for a copy of our “Virtual Value Analysis: Why & How To Conduct VA Team Meetings In A Changing & Chaotic World” e-book.
Below are some similar articles that you may find interesting.
Hospital Outsourcing or Insourcing: What’s the Right Answer?
4 Principles That Are the Foundation of Hospital Supply Expense Savings Validation